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Robert I Montague
'''Robert Montague I '''was a Frankish royal who united the British Isles in the 8th century and became the first Emperor of Britainnia. Early Life Little is known about Montague's early life. He was born to Al Mahdi Al-Abbasid, an Arabian prince, and a Frankish peasant following a raid in South West Francia in 753. It is believed he was born in Mirepoix, in the county of Foix on the border of Al-Andalus (Now Spain), although his birth being a consequence of a raid suggests he may have been born in Rosello, just east of Foix. In his youth, he studied the ways of the Eastern Church and as such became literate, uncommon of peasants during that period. Sometime during his youth, he was recruited into the Royal Court of Northumbria due to his, according to some sources, attempted translation of the Bible from Latin/Greek into Frankish. Upon his success, Northumbria was excommunicated from the Western churches and he was granted the barony of Richmond in 767, when the heirless Duke of York died in 769, the title was passed on to Robert, denouncing his father's beliefs and dynasty, he founded the Montague dynasty, the word originating from Old French. During his early rule of York, he often came to disagreements with the other vassals of Northumbria and even his liege, and, according to some sources, often leading him to visit Constantinople in the Eastern Roman Empire. Greek sources suggest that he was summoned by the Roman Emperor, Konstantinos V, who relished the opportunity to have an Eastern-Ideal ruler in the west, and, despite the views of many Romans of the lack of prestige of the Duke, Montague was granted permission to marry the daughter of the Emperor, Princess Anthousa. Although non-Iconoclast Romans welcomed the move, seeing as Montague followed a fairly more strict branch of Orthodoxy. Seeking to grow his realm within Northumbria and spread the Eastern Church throughout Britain, from 770, Montague waged several wars with the bordering realms, winning all of them, eventually growing his hold from York to Bedford in just two years, during this time, Charlemagne had united West and Central Francia, after the death of his brother, creating a superstate in Western Europe. Early Rule The succession of Charlemagne to the throne of Middle Francia spurred the expansionist policy of Montague, continuing to expand Northumbria with little intervention from his liege, starting with the Ducal War For Lincolnshire against Mercia. His expansionist ideas were unfounded during the period and therefore caused a lot of infamy throughout the west, with both Catholicism and Orthodoxy facing huge threats to their existence in their recent years, the former with the Battle of Tours and the latter with issues of Heresy in the Eastern Roman Empire, both religions began a rebirth due to the actions of both Robert and Charlemagne, this was later known as the Dark Renaissance. The spoils of war from the Conquest of England allowed Montague to build hospitals and buildings in his holdings throughout the country, some buildings from this period are still standing even today, representing a sense of economic unity despite the ongoing change of hands, the rule of Montague allowed stability throughout England. Robert had three sons around this period, Robert, Henry and Stephen. It was around this time that Montague sent a convoy from York to settle in the islands above Britain, while sources suggest that they sought to find Shetney and Orkland, they instead colonized Iceland, establishing Iceland as a York colony, although it would not be populated by more than 50 people for a few hundred years. In 777, King Ealhred of Northumbria attempted to revoke the county of Lincoln from Montague, this led to a short civil war, when Montague's army surrounded the king and his family in Northumbria, they were all imprisoned and tried for treason, the king and his heir was executed, and everyone else was released. Montague then usurped the crown of Northumbria and formed the Kingdom of England. Over the next few years, a lot of the Saxon, Welsh, Irish and Scottish culture was lost to the ruling Francien cultures. In 781, The Holy Roman Empire was formed by Charlemagne and Pope Urbanus II. The Eastern Church took this as an incredible insult and The Roman Empire and the Kingdom of England ceased trading and diplomatic relations with both the Papal State and the Holy Roman Empire. This followed attempts to heal the divide between the two churches, even offering the Patriarchy of Rome and then Constantinople to the Pope, to no luck. This caused the formation of the First British Empire in 783, with Robert I being the first emperor. The Holy Roman Empire The formation of the Holy Roman Empire threatened the existence of an Eastern Orthodox sovereign state, causing the rivalry that plagued the Western Emperors